


We dream of medals; around our necks.

by SilverMyfanwy



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: 2016 Summer Olympics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mortal, Alternate Universe - Olympics, Archery, Athletes, Coming Out, Competition, Fluff, Gymnastics, Horseback Riding, Martial Arts, Multi, Olympics, Romance, Rowing, Sexuality Crisis, Swimming, Swimming Pools, Wrestling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-13 22:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16027619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMyfanwy/pseuds/SilverMyfanwy
Summary: They've been training and practicing and competing their whole lives and now it comes to this: the Olympics, the biggest show on earth.-A collection of snapshots, articles and memories in the lives of some of the world's greatest athletes in their quest for gold.





	We dream of medals; around our necks.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh heck.  
> I wrote this a while ago, while high on Olympic fever.  
> I had no idea how to summarise it.  
> Or tag it.  
> It's... odd.  
> I hope you like it.  
> :)

**part 1**

_Percy had only been swimming once before. He had loved it. As soon as he had left the swimming pool with Sally, he was asking her when they could next go back. He had taken to the water like a duck._

_Sally signed him up for swimming lessons. When Percy went for the first lesson, all the other three and four-year-olds were terrified, hiding behind their parent’s legs and refusing to get in._

_Percy had walked up to the edge of the pool, jumped in and started doggy paddling around happily whilst he waited for instructions. One of the swimming coaches had looked at him in amazement and turned to Sally in shock._

_“What did you bribe him with?”_

_Sally just smiled. “Nothing.”_

**part 2**

_Every time Emily had to go away on work, Frank was allowed to roam the woods and fields surrounding the house as freely as he wanted, as long as his homework was done and he was back in time for dinner._

_Emily was firmly against it, but Frank’s grandmother was all for it._

_“But what if he gets attacked by a bear?” Emily would say._

_“I don’t care. If he gets attacked by a bear, he’ll just have to defend himself.” Grandma Zhang would reply flatly. “Besides, fresh air and freedom will do him good.”_

_Emily would sigh and walk away, knowing that she could never win an argument with her mother._

_Frank liked being able to go in the woods. He would build dens and climb trees, and more often than not, go home soaking wet and covered in mud from playing in the river._

_He did meet a bear in the woods one day. The bear had come quietly out of the trees and was snuffling peacefully in the undergrowth. Frank watched it in amazement, seeing the muscle rippling under the sleek black coat._

_The bear looked up and made eye contact with the nine-year-old. It snorted and lumbered off further into the woods. Frank watched it go, and as soon as it vanished from sight, he ran back home._

_“Grandma! Grandma! I saw a bear!” he panted._

_“Did you scream?”_

_“No.”_

_“Good boy.”_

_“I want to be a bear, Grandma! How can I be a bear?”_

_“By practising your archery.”_

_When she was to account the incident to Emily a month later, Emily was to groan while Grandma Zhang smiled smugly._

**part three**

_Everything was perfect. He had no injuries, his sister and his friends were in the crowd and he knew he could beat the other gymnasts’ scores._

_He felt like nothing could go wrong._

_Jason walked up to the start of the vault track. He took a deep breath and ran up to the springboard, doing a handspring onto the vault and leaping off into a twisting back somersault._

_The ceiling and the crowd blurred and Jason concentrated on keeping his toes pointed and his arms in. He landed on the centre line and didn’t stumble._

_He turned to the judges and bowed, unable to stop the grin on his face. He walked to the side of the mat and waited for his score to go up on the board._

_It was 14. He had scored 14 and won regionals aged 13!_

_Jason felt on top of the world._

**part 4**

_“Hey Macaroni,” Piper stroked the horse’s nose gently._

_“Try riding him,” Silena suggested._

_Piper swung herself onto the back of the skewbald. She tangled her fingers in his mane and nudged his sides with her heels. He walked forwards and Piper urged him on faster. He began to canter around the field and Piper rocked back and forth as Silena watched on._

_Piper dismounted. “I think we could train him in dressage.”_

_“Really?”_

_Piper nodded. “There’s something about him. He’s got potential.”_

_Silena laughed. “You’re better with horses than I am. We’ll teach him dressage if you think he can do so well.”_

_Piper watched Macaroni as he began to graze. “I know he can do well, Silena.”_

**part five**

_The five am starts had become normal a long time ago for Annabeth. Since she was fourteen, she had been training for a minimum of six hours a day, five days a week._

_The cold, dark winter mornings had really begun to sink in now. It was two weeks after Halloween and Annabeth was probably the only person on her street awake. She tried to close the doors of her car as quietly as possible as she loaded her kit up._

_The drive to the training centre was silent. No other cars passed the green Ford Fiesta on its drive._

_The lights were already on by the time Annabeth got there. The car park was half full and in an hour or two there would be no spaces left._

_Annabeth took her kit bag out of the car and walked into the training centre through the automatic doors. Most of her teammates hadn’t arrived yet. She placed her duffel bag by the lockers and carefully traced over the writing on the locker door with her fingers._

_UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OLYMPIC TAEKWONDO TEAM_

_ANNABETH CHASE_

_-67 KG_

_The Olympics themselves were still months away. The taekwondo team had been selected early for a reason._

_Annabeth knew it was a risk, the board of directors selecting her. She had moved up a weight category less than a year ago._

_She had heard what some people thought of her selection. Most didn’t think it was a very good idea, saying she hadn’t yet made her mark on the -67 kg circuit and wouldn’t stand a chance of getting a medal._

_Annabeth was going to prove them wrong, just like she had been telling her friends and family since she had first been selected._

_She would, she would, she would._

**part six**

_The weights stared Will firmly in the eyes, goading him, challenging him, telling him to pick them up. He glared at them, fighting a mental battle to not turn around and walk away. He won, after a few insults thrown at them._

_He like the gym work a bit, but he like being out on the lake a lot more. He couldn’t train on the water today as the wind was whipping up a storm outside, making waves spike up across the lake._

_The rowing machine loomed in front of him now. A half hour frenzy of screaming muscles and pounding ears beckoned and Will was not looking forward to it. He knew, though, that dedication and discipline would get him a gold medal. Doughnuts would not._

**part seven**

_Raindrops dripped down the car window slowly as Sally waited outside the pool to pick Percy up from training. It was a Wednesday night and exactly the same way she spent each and every week night in term time. She was also at the pool three times a week in the early morning, though Percy got a bus to and from his training sessions at the weekends in return for her driving him to competitions._

_She did it because she loved her son and her son did it because he loved to swim._

_And he was one of the best in the country._

**part eight**

_Thalia slipped her mouth guard in and jumped up and down a few times, swinging her arms back and forth._

_“And in the blue corner, all the way from the United States of America, Thalia Grace!”_

_The crowd cheered and Thalia raised one arm in the air, buckling her helmet on with the other. She climbed under the railings as the referee introduced her opponent, some newbie from Brazil. They shook hands, both squeezing hard on the other’s fingers._

_Then gloves were being put on and the bell rung. Energy surged through Thalia as she swung her first punch. There was a satisfying thud as her fist made contact._

_She was firmly on track with her goal to win, the round going the same was as most did when Thalia fought: she was winning._

_The first round was over quickly; Thalia gulped down the water put in her mouth by her coaching team and she nodded as they suggested what she did in the next round. Her mouth guard back in, Thalia got up and began to box again, but something had changed._

_The other girl was like a hurricane, dodging hits and evading Thalia’s punches expertly. Her blows rained down thick and fast and the rest of the match became a blur. The next thing Thalia knew, the referee was raising her opponent’s hand, and Thalia ‘Thunder’ Grace, the favourite to become world champion, was out in the first match._

**part nine**

_“Which gate is your flight from?” Percy asked as he and Annabeth made their way into the airport._

_She checked the piece of paper she had written all the information on. “B.”_

_Annabeth glanced up at the signs and squinted. “I can’t read it. It’s too far away. Can you?”_

_Percy shook his head and called over a member of staff, who pointed them in the right direction._

_Annabeth had her bags checked in, giving special instructions to the staff about what to do with them. Her Team USA bags and official USA Olympics uniform made them take her far more seriously than when she just wore normal clothes on flights to training camps and competitions._

_Annabeth hugged Percy. “I’ll see you in two weeks.”_

_Percy nodded. “Yeah. Have fun at the training camp.”_

_Annabeth raised her eyebrows and shook her head. “If you think I’ll be having fun before my event’s over, then you are sorely mistaken. Seaweed Brain.”_

_Percy grinned and kissed her. “Good luck. Not that you need it.”_

_“I love you.”_

_“Love you too, Wise Girl.”_

_An announcement came over the crackly loudspeaker. Annabeth shouldered her rucksack and began to walk towards her departure gate, looking back to wave at Percy._

_As he waved back, Percy mouthed the word ‘gold’ at her and she laughed. He could hear her laugh from where he stood and grinned._

_And then she was gone, headed on the next part of her quest to an Olympic gold._

**part ten**

_Somehow, the entire British rowing team had ended up on the same flight to Brazil as the Italian aquatics team, which was half the size of the rowing team._

_Big, burly, Brits with sun-bleached hair, tans and rippling muscles wearing their uniform proudly towered over the mostly teenage Italians, who tried to hide away from them, but failed pitifully._

_Nico was one of the few adults in the Italian team, though only just. He didn’t have as much luck as his teammates as he was placed next to one of the rowers. As luck should have it, it was the only one he knew._  

_“Hello,” Will Solace grinned at Nico. “Fancy seeing you here.”_

_Nico rolled his eyes. “Hello, Will.” he_ _had no problem speaking English as his father had been from the country and brought Nico and his sisters up speaking the language._

_“Are you going to have a conversation with me or are you going to put headphones on and sulk and be moody?” Will asked, still grinning._

_“I can manage a conversation.” Nico said, folding his arms. “For a bit. And only if you’re not too intrusive.”_

_Will’s grin doubled. “Really?”_

_Nico nodded and braced himself for what the next ten hours would have to offer._

**Part Eleven**

It was the first day of competing and Frank was in the archery arena. He stepped up to the line, braced his shoulders, rolled his neck. He pulled an arrow out of the quiver by his side and slotted it into his bow just as he had done so many thousands of times. He pulled back the bow string and let the arrow fly. It hit the target with a thwack, straight in the yellow zone.

His name went up on the scoreboard and he prepared for his next shot.

**Part Twelve**

Sally already had tears in her eyes as she watched the TV. She saw Percy walk up to the reporter, soaking wet and with a huge grin on his face.

_“Percy Jackson, you are the gold medal winner of the men’s 200m breaststroke at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. How does it feel?”_

_Percy shook his head disbelievingly. “It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he laughed._

_“And you made a new world record in the process!”_

_Percy laughed again. “I know! I can’t believe it! It’s completely mad- this is, oh I can’t believe it!” he noticed the cameras. “Is this being shown live?”_

_The reporter nodded. “Have you got family watching at home in America?”_

_“I hope so!”_

_“Would you like to say something to them?”_

_Percy nodded eagerly and the camera turned to just show him on screens across America. “Hey, Mom, Paul. I did it! I won! And Mom, it’s all thanks to you driving me to practice and meets that I’m here and you’re amazing and I love you and thank you so, so much. Thank you to Grover and Tyson and all the rest of you! You’re awesome!”_

Sally’s crying now, tears pouring down her cheeks. She’s pretty sure Paul’s crying too, but when she goes to question him about it later he’ll deny it.

_The camera moves off Percy and brings the reporter into the shot._

_“Your girlfriend and fellow Olympian Annabeth Chase is in the stands.” the reporter tells Percy, smiling. “We’ve managed to get her a pass to come down and see you.”_

_Percy’s eyes light up even more._

_Annabeth is brought through a door and runs up to the rail. Percy jumps up and kisses her passionately. She hugs him and that’s when he bursts into tears, sobbing into Annabeth’s shoulder._

**Part Thirteen**

_Upcoming Mexican Gymnast Becomes Last Minute Replacement in Rio!_

_By Josh Adams._

_Leo Valdez, an eighteen-year-old Mexican, has become an Olympian at last minute._

_Despite qualifying for the games three months ago, he wasn’t selected for the main team and was made a reserve. It didn’t look like he would be competing until the early hours of the day before hi event, the rings, when it was announced by the Mexican team that their star gymnast Manuel Gomez would be pulling out to focus on his own main event, the floor._

_Leo Valdez, who grew up travelling between his mother’s hometown of Tampico and Houston, Texas, where his father worked. He is a Mexican citizen and despite being eligible for American citizenship with his American father, Valdez chose to stay Mexican._

_“It’s where I’m from.” he said in an interview after qualifying for the games. “It’s my home, it’s where I’m from. Being American just wouldn’t feel right. I am Mexican. Not American.”_

_Valdez, who is friends with the American star Jason Grace and his Olympic family (sister Thalia is competing in the boxing, cousins Nico di Angelo and Percy Jackson are swimmers, cousin Hazel Levesque is a dressage rider and so is his girlfriend Piper McLean) will be competing in the rings later today._

**Part Fourteen**

Percy adjusted his goggles and patted his hands over his swimming hat, making sure it was on firmly. He took his position on the starting block and waited to hear the gun go off.

It went and then Percy was diving into the water, into his home, and swam like he was meant to do.

**Part Fifteen**

Reyna swung her fists left and right, blood pounding in her veins side by side with adrenaline. The crowd were cheering and Puerto Rican flags were hanging from the stands. The crowd were chanting her name and Reyna sized up her opponent.

_Easy._

The first punch was strong and hard and showed her opponent exactly what happened when you smirked at Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano before entering a boxing ring with her.

**Part Sixteen**

Frank turned his phone on and flicked through his contacts until he found his Grandma. He turned the volume up and rang her. He could imagine her stalking over to the dusty old landline with a scowl on her face as she muttered “I heard you the first time,” to the incessant, horrible ringtone coming down the phone.

“Who is it?” his Grandma snapped.

“It’s me, Frank.” a grin crept onto his face.

“What is it? Don’t tell me you lost,” she said in a warning tone of voice.

“I won.” Frank beamed at his grandma’s shriek of delight.

**Part Seventeen**

_Two Archery Gold Medals for Canada!_

_By Chuck Harvey._

_Both Frank Zhang and Kayla Knowles won gold in their events yesterday. The pair, who have been training together in camps and youth teams since they were in their early teens were delighted with their wins on the same day._

_An image circulated social media last night of the pair holding their medals up together in a photo._

_Even the Prime Minister took to Twitter to congratulate them: @KaylaKnowlesCanada and @FrankZhangofficial, Canada is so proud of you!_

_We reckon they’re proud of themselves too._

**Part Eighteen**

Jason stared at the scoreboard in shock and clapped his hands over his mouth. He turned around to just find someone to look eyes with and it was Thalia, standing in the crowd with a grin spread from ear to ear. That moment when she met his gaze was the moment when he clocked it; he was the Olympic Champion!

Then she was there, hugging him and telling him how proud she was and how jealous she was because she hadn’t had her final yet.

**Part Nineteen**

Piper and Hazel were sitting at one of the tables in the Athlete’s Village Canteen, comparing notes over breakfast.

“How’d he go yesterday?” Piper asked, referring to the team dressage event that had taken place the day before, with Team USA coming in fifth.

Hazel finished her mouthful of porridge. “Really well, actually. The sand’s good, it’s a decent amount of light, he went on time, transactions actually working for once.”

“D’you reckon he picked up on the crowd and the occasion?” Piper smiled.

Hazel nodded. “Definitely. How do you think Macaroni will be?”

Piper pursed her lips. “I’m not sure. He’s never done anything this big before. It could be interesting, but it could be brilliant.”

“Good luck,” Hazel said, genuinely meaning it.

“You too.”

**Part Twenty**

Annabeth: Good luck Piper and Macaroni! Rooting for you! 

Piper: Thank you! 

**Part Twenty-One**

Grandpa Tom, Tristan, Aphrodite, Silena, Mitch and Lacey and all the other people Piper was related to were sitting on the edge of their seats on the dilapidated sofas and chairs crammed into the McLean living room as they watched Piper and Macaroni, or McLean Tribal III, perform their routine.

Macaroni’s skewbald coat gleamed, his hooves shone. Piper’s eyes were firm and focused, her jacket and shirt immaculate. No one spoke as they waited for her score to come up after she had bowed to the judges with a triumphant sweep of her arm and a grin plastered across her face.

Her score came up, she had won a silver medal, and her family all leapt to their feet and _roared_.

**Part Twenty-Two**

Annabeth strapped on her chest pad, back pad, socks and arm guards. She put her helmet on and slipped her mouth guard under her lip. Her eyes were alight with the prospect of another fight.

She had won her first two matches easily, getting her kicks in under the other person’s guard. Her coach fed her a few more stats, tactics and pieces of advice and then she jumped up onto the mats, swinging her arms back and forth to get the blood flowing into them.

The referee had her bow to her opponent and then the whistle blew. Annabeth began to tread the mats carefully and swung her first kick.

**Part Twenty-Three**

She was awake all night, with her semi-final and then her final, which she won. When the final whistle blew she raised her arms and screamed.

Annabeth shook hands with the silver medallist and then ran to hug her coach who pointed her in the direction of Percy. He kissed her passionately and gave her a flag which she raised above her shoulders as she ran a victory lap around the stadium.

**Part Twenty-Four**

Nico’s performance in his preliminary rounds had been shocking and not in a good way.

Coming in to the meet, he had been the favourite to win gold, and many had pegged him to break the world record as well. So far, he had not lived up to expectations.

The 200m backstroke was his event, his best race of the three he competed in. He would usually come second or third in the first couple of rounds, saving his energy for quarters, semis and the final. In his first round, he had barely scraped a qualifying fifth and in the second round he just managed to come fourth to get through to the quarter-final.

Everyone following the event was commenting on his shaky performances and his literal shakes at the start of his races. His sunken eyes and slightly ragged appearance made everyone say that the pressure was too much for him to handle.

It wasn’t; his mind was just elsewhere and his heart trying to hide from itself instead of diving into the waters as it usually did.

**Part Twenty-Five**

Hazel and Reyna were jumping up and down in the stands as they roared Nico on, waving their banners and watching his green hat fly through the water. He was first to touch the board and their hearts swelled with pride as they watched the look on his face change from anxiousness to pure relief as he pulled his googles off and saw the scoreboard.

**Part Twenty-Six**

Nico made what would later be described as ‘the comeback of the games’. At the beginning of the last length he was sixth out of eight but then swam like no one had ever seen him swim before to snatch the gold from a Lithuanian by tenths of a second.

When he took his googles off he seemed to have no idea he had won, but then he glanced around and realised that others had yet to finish. This made him look at the scoreboard to see where he had placed and a cry of shock escaped him and he burst into tears.

**Part Twenty-Seven**

The night Nico won his gold, he didn’t go out partying with his teammates like they wanted him to. He didn’t get pizza with his sister and her friends like they tried to persuade him to. He simply got a taxi back to the Athlete’s Village where he had arranged to meet someone.

Will was waiting for him outside one of the blocks. His face lit up when he saw Nico and he hugged the smaller teenager tightly. “Congratulations!”

“Congratulations yourself.” Will had won a medal the day before.

Will smiled. “Thanks.”

Their eyes met and Will’s gaze became concerned.

“Are you alright?” he leaned closer to Nico to examine him. “You’re really pale. Do you need to rest? Are you hurt? Is everything okay?”

Nico shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“Is this to do with your prelims? Did something happen?”

Nico nodded slowly.

“What?” Will asked worriedly.

Nico took a deep breath and looked up at Will unflinchingly. “I’m gay.”

Will cupped Nico’s face and kissed him.

Part Twenty-Eight

A photo from the closing ceremony did the rounds on social media. It showed Annabeth, Thalia and Clarisse, who had grown up training at the same gym, posing with their gold medals. Annabeth’s in tae-kwon-do, Thalia’s in boxing and Clarisse’s in wrestling, with the caption _Three dangerous women and their prizes for being dangerous._

**Part Twenty-Nine**

Thalia walked out of the departures gate and looked around for Luke. He stood out in the crowd with his scarred face and Team USA hoodie. He grinned when he saw her and she ran to hug him. He swept her up, span her round and put her down again with a groan. “You can probably spin me round easier than I can spin you.”

Thalia grinned. “Too right.” she kissed him. “Miss me?”

“Well the amount you were on TV it was like you’d never even left.” Luke teased.

She went to punch his shoulder and then caught herself. “I won’t punch you,”

“Please don’t,”

“Because I have a gold medal in punching people, so I shall flick you instead.” Thalia flicked Luke daintily and the both giggled.

Thalia went home with her medal around her neck.


End file.
